A racey topic... racism

Not going to lie, some of my friends have a twisted sense of humor, and one sent me this one earlier today.  It really got me thinking of how people often judge others just simply on the color of their skin.  I've been in the situation where I lived with a black family for a few months, and when people heard about that, the comments I got where outrageous.  


I also grew up down south, where there is still a large wide of people whom are racist against the black community.  They think of them as these people who thrive in the ghetto, who are trash, who kill, rob, and rape our people.  Yet there is just an equal amount of white, Asians, Latinos, and every other race who do the same- yet they don't have the stereotypes that most colored people do.


Also, I have met people who aren't comfortable around a certain race, will completely take a different way to go some place just to avoid them, and will be beyond rude to them- easily to say they are racist against one group.  I will admit, I am guilty to an extent of this.


Why do you think that people are uncomfortable around a certain race or have such a strong hatred towards a certain group of people?

Appreciate all, even what you don't understand.

Jenny asked "Do you like going to art museums? A lot of people think it is utterly boring, how about you?"

Yes! I have always loved going to art museums.  My whole family are those people who think art is boring- yet I'm in love with it.  It's the best way I can express myself, and most of the times I don't even understand it.

In my life, I have been lucky enough to go to art museums in Washington DC, Richmond VA, San Diego CA, Tampa FL, and several museums in Spain- all of which I was in heaven. 

My favorite two museums were the Museo Del Prado in Madrid, and the Picasso Museum in Spain.  I easily spend a full day in Museo Del Prado without noticing it; I fell in love with art all over again!  Though my sister generally hates art, she managed to find a few pieces that she liked and even a few that she had seen before- it was a great bonding experience for the both of us.

The picture in the post is of the Museo Del Prado.  Inside and out it has beautiful art: sketches, paintings, sculptures, and things I don't even know what to call them.  But the Prado was by far my favorite museum I have visited.

Do you think appreciation for things such as art come from understanding them? 

Without Art, there is no Heart

Sam asked "Do you have a favorite artist?  Do you have a favorite painting by them?" Link to blog post

I will agree with Sam, my favorite artist is Picasso, and my favorite painting by him is La Guernica.

I was lucky enough my sophomore year in high school to go to Spain, and even luckier to go to a Picasso Art Museum where I saw La Guernica up close in person- it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life.  I was with my sister at the museum, and she told me that she didn't understand the painting at all (along with all art in general), so I proceeded to explain all the symbolism in it about the war and about the life of Picasso.  By the time we left she told me that she felt like she just received a history lesson.

Question: Do you think art is an effective history and story teller if given the chance to be understood and explained?

I'm proud to be an American

Shannon asked in regards to Osama bin Laden being killed "How does that make you feel as an American?" and I feel the video above fits how I feel perfectly.

I was greatly affected by the 9/11 attacks- my dad was deployed the next day and his sub was attacked, he is lucky to be alive; and my uncle was deployed a few days later, he was lucky to walk away when his tank was bombed.

Knowing that the man that was the cause of 9/11 is dead is bittersweet, but American needs to be on the lookout for a retaliating attack that is most likely going to come.

Aside from the bittersweet feeling, I'm glad.  The man needed to have his life put to an end because of the hell that he caused in the world, and his death is the start to a justification to the deaths of all the men and women who lost their lives in Project Freedom.

Do you think it's wrong that the nation as a whole has celebrated the death of Osama?

Golden Rule?

Everyone knows that the Golden Rule is "treat others how you wish to be treated", and Shannon asked if I always act how I want to be treated.

As much as I hate to say this, I do not.  There are some people that I'm really short tempered with which causes me to have a short fuse with them and I often tweak out on them- which is no fun to have done to you.  There are people that I treat better than others--I think that is inevitable-- but in return I'm treated badly.
But I will say, there are some instances that I treat others how I like to be treated, and it usually deals with respect.  In situations in which I do treat others how I wish to be treated, I hope to think what goes around comes around- but that isn't always the case.


Do you think that karma works hand-in-hand with the Golden Rule?

Give peace a chance!

Julia asked:  Do you think it will ever be possible to have universal peace?

I'm all for John Lennon and the hippie people from the 60's saying "hey hey give peace a chance" but I don't think it's a realistic concept.  Most countries that are at war is because of a stand point with governments or because of disagreements in just about everything.
I personally think for universal peace to even remotely happen, the world has to have a set type of government (no one person in rule, no one person killing everyone creating a war in their own country), and honestly most likely one established religion.
Even though it would be able to be down without the religion factor, I feel the world needs to come together as one, under one government.

Now I'm thinking if the world was together, like the United States, wars would probably STILL break out!  California could bomb Florida because they attract more people for spring break or some other stupid reason.  No matter what, the world, countries, hell even cities and states are going to have something that pull them apart and set them up against each other.

Do you think people are peace advocates because of the hope for peace?  Or because they think it can actually happen?

Is that a guy or a girl?

Sam asked: Why do you think Girl Looks Like a Man contests have never materialized?

Sam posted about the Dude who looks like a Lady contest that was held at Relay for Life on Friday evening.  I was there and I thought it was pretty amusing to see the guys dressing up like girls and "strutting their stuff" acting like us females.  Raising the question as why Girl looks like a Man contest haven't appeared yet is a very good one and it triggered some thoughts of mine.

First off, I think it's simply socially acceptable for females to wear mens' clothing.  Today, women wear jeans, dress pants, blazers, shirts with collars, and even ties- yet they are looked at like it's completely normal.

Secondly, I thought of the growing rate of gays coming out.  Since I moved to MA, I've noticed there is a massive amount of homosexual people, and some females simply dress themselves as a guy because it's more comfortable for them.

I think ideas such as above have been though of when contests like that are created, plus some females just look like males.  I also think it's a way to stay away from avoiding some people.  I know some women who naturally look like a male, and they are very uncomfortable with it, and often take things like that offensively towards themselves.

Why do you think people are so afraid of offending people?  And how it gets to a point that people even lie to avoid the offensiveness?